REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Third biannual report on the functioning of the Schengen area_1 November 2012 - 30 April 2013
Date: 2013-05-31
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Bulgaria, Frontex, Romania, Schengen Information System, border control, external border of the EU, migration control

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 31.5.2013  
COM(2013) 326 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

Third biannual report on the functioning of the Schengen area 
1 November 2012 - 30 April 2013 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

Third biannual report on the functioning of the Schengen area 
1 November 2012 - 30 April 2013 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

As  announced  by  the  Commission  on  16  September  2011  in  its  Communication  on 
strengthening  Schengen  governance1  and  supported  by  the  Justice  and  Home  Affairs 
Council/Mixed Committee on 8 March 2012, the Commission adopts biannual reports to the 
European Parliament and to the Council on the functioning of the Schengen area. This third 
report covers the period 1 November 2012 – 30 April 2013.  

2. 

2.1. 

SITUATIONAL PICTURE 
Situation at the Schengen external borders 2 

During October-December 2012, there were 13 613 detections of irregular border crossing, a 
52%  reduction  compared  to  the  fourth  quarter  2011.  This  figure  is  the  lowest  ever  since 
Frontex' data collection began in early 2008. The significant reduction was mainly due to the 
launch  on  30  July  2012  of  the  Greek  operation  Shield,  involving  the  deployment  of  1 800 
police  officers  to  the  land  border  with  Turkey.  Following  this  operation,  the  number  of 
detections of irregular migrants dropped from 2 000 during the first week of August 2012 to 
200 in the second week, and further down to 10 in the last week of October.  

The  majority  of  detections  took  place  at  the  EU  external  sea  border  (59%).  While  Greece 
during  July-September  2012  reported  more  than  half  of  all  detections  of  irregular  border 
crossing,  this  situation  changed  following  the  launch  of  Operation  Shield.  During  October-
December  2012,  Italy  reported  31%  of  all  detections  (4 231  persons),  followed  by  Greece, 
reporting  30%  of  the  detections  (4 035  persons).  There  was  an  increase  of  detections  at  the 
Greek sea border with Turkey and the Bulgarian land border with Turkey, probably the result 
of  a  displacement  effect  from  the  Greek-Turkish  land  border.  As  far  as  nationalities  are 
concerned,  migrants  from  Afghanistan  accounted  for  most  detections  of  irregular  border 
crossing, counting 1 969 persons in October-December 2012. Despite the desperate situation 
in  their  home  country,  the  number  of  Syrian  nationals  detected  was  cut  by  two  thirds, 
compared to July-September 2012, to 1 241 persons.  

2.2. 

Situation within the Schengen area 

During October-December 2012, secondary movements from in particular Greece to other EU 
Member States tended to be reflected in the detections of3: 

irregular border crossing along the Western Balkan land borders; 

• 
•  migrants arriving at the sea border of southern Italy; 
•  clandestines on board ferries to Italy; 
•  migrants  travelling  with  fraudulent  documents  on  flights  from  Greek  airports  to  many 

major EU airports.  

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COM (2011) 561 final 
Frontex quarterly risk analysis October-December 2012 
Frontex quarterly risk analysis October-December 2012 

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Operation  Aphrodite,  the  most  recent  information-gathering  exercise  on  migration  flows 
within  the  EU/Schengen  area,  was  carried  out  from  22  October  to  4  November  2012,  in  25 
Member  States4  as  well  as  in  Liechtenstein,  Norway  and  Switzerland.  The  aim  of  the 
operation  was  to  fight  irregular  migration  by  focusing  on  irregular  border  crossings, 
secondary movements of irregular migrants within the EU/Schengen area and routes followed 
by  irregular  migrants.  According  to  the  data  reported  by  the  participating  Member  States, 
compiled  by  Cyprus  and  communicated  in  December  20125,  5 298  third  country  nationals 
from 130 different countries were apprehended during these two weeks. The largest number 
of irregular migrants within the Schengen area were found in Germany (1 510 persons) and 
Spain (468 persons) and these were also the main countries of final destination6. 

In February-April 2013, the European network of airport law enforcement services (AIRPOL) 
coordinated an action, aimed at fighting trafficking and smuggling of human beings, the use 
of  false  documents,  identity  theft,  organized  crime  and  terrorism.  The  participating  airports 
performed targeted measures for intra-EU risk flights for 24 hours and submitted their results 
to  AIRPOL  for  further  analysis.  A  report  including recommendations  for  countermeasures  is 
expected in summer 2013.  

Although the information above is useful, there still exists a need for improved data collection 
and  analysis  of  the  irregular  migratory  movements  within  the  EU.  Following  an  expert 
meeting on 2 October 2012, the Commission and Frontex reviewed Member States feedback 
on  data  availability  and  considered  how  to  best  move  forward.  In  a  second  meeting  on  29 
April 2013, it was agreed that a pilot  project  based  on available information will be carried 
out  during  the  second  half  of  the  year,  with  a  view  to  launching  a  regular  collection  and 
analysis of specific data as of the beginning of 2014, coordinated by Frontex.  

3. 

APPLICATION OF THE SCHENGEN ACQUIS 

Cases of temporarily reintroduced control at internal borders 

3.1. 
Article  23(1)  of  the  Schengen  Borders  Code7  provides  that,  exceptionally,  where  there  is  a 
serious  threat  to  public  policy  or  internal  security,  a  Member  State  may  temporarily 
reintroduce  border  control  at  its  internal  borders.  During  the  period  1  November  2012  -  30 
April 2013, control at the internal borders has been reintroduced once.  

On 30 November 2012, Norway notified the Commission that on the occasion of the Nobel 
Peace  Prize  ceremony  in  Oslo  on  10  December  2012,  it  was  to  reintroduce  control  at  the 
internal borders from 3 until 12 December 2012. During these days, Norway perfomed border 
checks on 3 136 persons, whereof 19 persons were refused entry, 8 persons were detained and 
9 persons applied for asylum8.  

3.2.  Maintaining the absence of internal border control 

The  large  majority  of  alleged  violations  of  the  Schengen  acquis  still  regard  whether  the 
carrying out of police checks close to the internal border have an effect equivalent to border 
checks (article 21 of the Schengen Borders Code) and the obligation to remove obstacles to 
fluid traffic flow, such as speed limitations, at road crossing-points at internal borders (article 

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France and Greece did not participate. 
Presentation by the Cypriot Presidency in the Council Working Party on Frontiers in December 2012 
Moreover,  728  persons  were  detected  in  the  United  Kingdom,  the  main  country  of  destination  in  the 
EU.  
Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a Community 
Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code) 
Council document 6346/13 FRONT 9 COMIX 90 

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22  of  the  Schengen  Borders  Code).  In  the  period  1  November  2012  –  30  April  2013,  the 
Commission  requested  information  on  possible  violations  of  articles  21  and/or  22  of  the 
Schengen Borders Code in two new cases (regarding Germany and Spain), while it closed five 
cases (involving Germany, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands) and continued investigating 
four existing cases (regarding Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Sweden). 

3.3. 

Alleged violations of other parts of the Schengen acquis 

Transposition of the Return Directive (2008/115/EC) into national legislation 

The  deadline  for  implementation  of  the  Return  Directive  (2008/115/EC)  expired  on  24 
December 2010. All EU Member States bound by the Directive and all associated countries 
except  Iceland  have  notified  full  transposition  of  the  Directive  into  national  law.  The 
Commission is examining the legal transposition and the practical application in the Member 
States in detail and will present its first application report by the end of 2013.  

Implementation of the Regulation on Local Border Traffic (EC No 1931/2006) 

Since the entry into force of the local border traffic regime in 2007, the Commission has been 
monitoring its implementation. In July 2012, the Commission decided to request information 
from  three  Member  States  (Latvia,  Poland  and  Slovenia)  on  the  bilateral  agreements  that 
those  countries  have  concluded  with  neighbouring  third  countries.  The  replies  submitted  in 
October and November 2012 are in the final stage of internal consideration.  

Application of the Schengen acquis during sea border surveillance 

Further,  on  23  February  2012,  the  European  Court  of  Human  Rights  found  Italy  to  be  in 
violation of the European Convention of Human Rights, for intercepting migrants on the high 
seas and sending them back to Libya9. The facts of this case also formed the subject-matter of 
an examination undertaken by the Commission with the Italian authorities. The Commission 
therefore  analysed  the  implications  of  the  judgment  and  inquired  into  which  measures  Italy 
would  take  to  ensure  compliance  with  the  judgment.  Italy  is  bound  by  the  ruling  and  has 
expressed  its  commitment  to  abide  by  it,  particularly  as  regards  any  existing  or  future 
agreements of an operative nature with Libya. In view of the reassurances provided by Italy, 
the Commission has now closed this case. The analysis of the judgment has been taken it into 
account  in  the  Commission's  proposal  for  a  regulation  establishing  rules  for  sea  operations 
coordinated  by  Frontex,  which  is  intended  to  replace  the  annulled  Council  Decision 
2010/252/EU10.  This  proposal  was  adopted  on  12  April  201311  and  discussions  have  been 
initiated with the European Parliament as well as the Council.  

3.4.  Weaknesses identified in the framework of the Schengen evaluation mechanism 
In  the  framework  of  the  current  Schengen  evaluation  mechanism12,  Member  States' 
application of the Schengen acquis is regularly evaluated by experts from the Member States, 
the Council General Secretariat and the Commission.  

In the period 1 November 2012 – 30 April 2013, Schengen evaluations were carried out: 

• 
• 
• 
• 

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10 
11 
12 

regarding police cooperation in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; 
regarding air borders in Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic; 
regarding land borders in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania  
regarding visa in Estonia, Poland and Slovakia. 

Case of Hirsi Jamaa and others v. Italy. Application no. 27765/09 
Judgment of 5 September 2012 in case C-355/10, European Parliament v. Council 
COM (2013) 197 final 
SCH/Com-ex (98) 26 def. 

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The reports are still being finalised, but are expected to include positive as well as negative 
comments and recommendations on issues such as training, use of risk analysis, information 
exchange,  international  cooperation  and  infrastructure  at  border  crossing  points  and 
embassies/consulates. As was the case during the previous six months, there is generally room 
for improvement, but no deficiencies have been found that would require the Commission to 
take immediate action.  

Following its last mission of February 2013, the Commission invites Greece to continue the 
implementation  of  its  Schengen  action  plan  and  reiterates  its  commitment  to  support  the 
Greek  efforts  to  manage  its  external  borders,  i.a.  through  the  External  Borders  Fund  and 
Frontex assistance. 

For an indicative calendar of Schengen evaluations in May – October 2013, see Annex I.  

3.5. 

Lifting of control at internal borders with Bulgaria and Romania 

Following  the  Council  conclusion  in  June  2011  that  both  Bulgaria  and  Romania  fulfil  the 
criteria to apply in full the Schengen acquis, further measures were implemented which would 
contribute  to  their  accession.  Still,  the  Council  has  not  been  able  to  decide  on  the  lifting  of 
control at the internal borders to these countries. The Commission continues to fully support 
Bulgaria's and Romania's accession to the Schengen area as well as the Presidency's efforts in 
this direction.  

4. 

FLANKING MEASURES 

4.1. 

Use of the Schengen Information System 

The second generation of the Schengen Information System (SIS II) entered into operation on 
9  April  2013,  thereby  providing  Member  States  with  enhanced  and  new  functionalities  and 
categories  of  alerts.  In  order  to  ensure  the  use  of  the  SIS  II  to  its  full  potential,  the 
Commission,  in  cooperation  with  the  Member  States,  has  updated  the  SIRENE  Manual  to 
adapt  the  practical  cooperation  among  the  SIRENE  Bureaux  (created  for  exchanging 
supplementary information on alerts in the SIS) to the SIS II environment. Furthermore, the 
Commission  has  supported  the  European  Agency  for  the  operational  management  of  large-
scale  IT  systems  in  the  area  of  freedom,  security  and  justice  (eu-LISA)  in  establishing  the 
modules for training of technical use of SIS II. Initial residential and e-learning courses have 
been  organised  in  cooperation  with  the  European  Police  College  (CEPOL)  and  Member 
States' experts and are to be continued after the hand-over of the operational management of 
the SIS II to eu-LISA in May 2013. Finally, an information campaign, focussing on the new 
system's objective and data protection aspects, accompanied the entry into operations of SIS 
II.  

Use of the Visa Information System 

4.2. 
The Visa Information System (VIS)13 is a system for exchange of information on short-stay 
visas. After its entry into operation in the first region (North Africa), the second region (Near 
East) and the third region (the Gulf)14, the VIS has been launched on 14th of March 2013 in 
the fourth region (West Africa) and fifth region (Central Africa). On 6 June 2013, VIS will 

13 
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Council Decision of 8 June 2004 establishing the Visa Information System (VIS) (2004/512/EC) 
Commission Implementing Decision of 21 September 2011 determining the date from which the Visa 
Information  System  (VIS)  is  to  start  operations  in  a  first  region  (2011/636/EU),  Commission 
Implementing Decision of 21 September 2012 determining the date from which the Visa Information 
System  (VIS)  is  to  start  operations  in  a  third  region  (2012/512/EU),  Commission  Implementing 
Decision  of  7 March 2013  determining  the  date  from  which  the  Visa Information  System  (VIS)  is to 
start operations in a fourth and a fifth region (2013/122/EU) 

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become operational in the sixth region (East Africa) and in the seventh region (South Africa), 
on 5 September 2013 in the eighth region (South America) and on 14 November 2013 in the 
ninth  region  (Central  Asia),  tenth  region  (South-East  Asia)  and  eleventh  region  (Palestine). 
The  sequence  and  possibly  the  dates  of  deployment  for  the  remaining  regions  are  being 
discussed with Member States and will be decided in the coming months.  

The  VIS  is  functioning  well  and  by  6  May  2013  the  system  had  processed  2,9  million  visa 
applications,  whereby  2,4  million  visas  have  been  issued  and  348 000  visas  have  been 
refused. Despite continuous efforts by Member States, the main issue of concern remains the 
mid  to  long-term  effect  of  a  non-optimal  quality  of  data  (both  biometric  and  alphanumeric) 
introduced by the consular authorities of Member States into the VIS. As from 1 December 
2012, the VIS is operated by eu-LISA.  

Visa policy and readmission agreements 

4.3. 
Post-visa liberalisation monitoring mechanism for Western Balkan countries15 

According  to  the  Frontex  report  for  the  period  31  December  2012  –  3  February  2013  the 
number of asylum applications by Western Balkan nationalities in the top five EU/Schengen 
states  decreased  by  44  %  in  January  2013  compared  to  the  same  month  in  2012.  While  the 
number  of  asylum  seekers  from  Serbia,  Montenegro  and  the  Former  Yugoslav  Republic  of 
Macedonia  decreased  (-61%  for  Serbia,  -45  %  for  Montenegro  and  -46%  for  the  Former 
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), there was a considerable increase of asylum seekers from 
Albania  (+74%)  and  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  (+51%).  The  top  destination  continues  to  be 
Germany, followed by Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxemburg.  

Readmission agreements 

In  order  to  facilitate  the  readmission  to  the  country  of  origin  of  persons  residing  without 
authorisation  in  a  Member  State,  the  Commission  in  April  2012  initialled  a  readmission 
agreement  with  Cape  Verde,  the  signature  of  which  was  authorised  by  the  Council  in 
February  2013.  The  readmission  agreement  with Turkey  was  initialled in  June  2012  and  its 
signature and the launch of a dialogue on visa liberalisation are expected. In October 2012, a 
readmission  agreement  with  Armenia  was  initialled  and  the  Commission  continues  to  work 
towards its signing and conclusion as soon as possible. Furthermore, negotiations have been 
launched also with Azerbaijan on visa facilitation and readmission agreements.  

15 

Since 19 December 2009, the citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and 
Serbia,  holding  a  biometric  passport,  have  enjoyed  visa-free  travel  to  the  EU  Member  States,  in 
accordance  with  Regulation  539/2001.  Under  the  same  conditions  the  citizens  of  Albania  as  well  as 
Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  have  enjoyed  visa-free  travel  to  the  EU  Member  States  since  15  December 
2010.  

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ANNEX I: Indicative calendar of Schengen evaluations in May – October 201316 

Time 

Member States 

Theme 

2-10 June 2013 

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania 

SIS/Sirene 

7-18 July 2013 

Poland, Slovakia 

Land borders 

8-14 September 2013 

Malta, Slovenia 

SIS/Sirene 

29 September-9 October 2013  Hungary, Slovenia 

Land borders 

6-12 October 2013 

Czech Republic, Slovakia 

SIS/Sirene 

16 

Council document 12032/12 SCH-EVAL 99 COMIX 423 

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